Presentation at faculty workshop of the Great Lakes Colleges Association, “Hybrid Thinking about the Role of Technology For Liberal Education.”

1. Mapping Technology Use for
Teaching and Learning at
Liberal Arts Colleges
Hybrid Thinking about the Role of
Technology for Liberal Education
Rebecca Frost Davis
April 6, 2013

2. References and Links
http://rebeccafrostdavis.wordpress.c
om/2013/04/06/mapping-
technology-use-for-teaching-and-
learning/

3. Passion-Driven Statistics
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pla
yer_embedded&v=7l070-WFb5Q
• Lisa Dierker, Professor of Psychology,
Wesleyan University

4. Our Path across the Landscape
• Examples of technology-supported teaching
and learning from liberal arts colleges
– Motivations for engaging with technologies
– Driven by definitions of liberal education
• Pointing to potential areas for development
and collaboration

5. NITLE www.nitle.org
• National Institute for Technology in Liberal
Education
• NITLE helps liberal arts colleges integrate
inquiry, pedagogy, and technology.
• Future of Liberal Education
• Digital Humanities

6. http://www.nitle.org/shared_academics/

7. Liberal Education in a Networked World
• http://rebeccafrostdavis.wordpress.com
• Slides and more examples available via my
blog

8. Conversation about
TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION

9. Online Learning as Delivery Method
“Going the Distance: Online Education Massive OpenStates” (2011), p. 7.
100% MOOC in the United Online Course

10. Defining Liberal Education
• Small, residential, private, bachelors granting
college
• The study of the liberal arts and sciences
• Preparation & skills for democratic citizenship
• Pedagogical methodology & practices
--Jo Ellen Parker, “What’s So Liberal About Higher Ed?”
Academic Commons

11. See also Lisa Spiro, “Open Education and MOOCs”, Recording of full
presentation available by request for NITLE members,
http://www.nitle.org/live/events/161-open-education-and-moocs
MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES
(MOOCs)

12. Slide courtesy of Lisa Spiro, “Open Education and MOOCs”

13. Slide courtesy of Lisa Spiro, “Open Education and MOOCs”

14. Slide courtesy of Lisa Spiro, “Open Education and MOOCs”

15. Two Visions for MOOCs
Industrial (xMOOC) Networked (cMOOC)
• Faculty expert • Collaborative peer learning
• Homogeneous Network • Heterogeneous Network
• One perfect lecture(r) • Knowledge is situated
• Knowledge transfer • Knowledge production

16. Slide courtesy of Lisa Spiro, “Open Education and MOOCs”

17. Slide courtesy of Lisa Spiro, “Open Education and MOOCs”

18. MOOCs as Open Educational Resources
MOOC CONSUMERS

19. MOOCs as Lifelong Learning
• Coursera MOOCs: Over 80% have a BA or
higher
• Southwestern Computer Science Professor to
take Thrun MOOC with students
• Gettysburg student took Thrun’s “Machine
Learning” as independent study
• Modeling how to be a self-motivated learner

20. MOOCs as Global Learning
• Both Coursera and edX have global partners in
Mexico, Israel, Italy, Japan, Australia,
Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada
• Expand course offerings in target languages
• Global learning opportunity (virtual study
abroad)
• Peers from diverse backgrounds
• “Mentored MOOCs for Global Learning”

21. Tool to Explore Digital Pedagogy
• Digital Pedagogy and MOOCification, Jesse
Stommel, Marylhurst College
• ACS group exploring MOOCs as part of ACS
New Paradigms Initiative
• Trinity College discussion group on digital
courses
• Daemen plans MOOC exploration
• Common reason also cited by large
universities

22. Bryn Mawr College Next Generation Learning Challenge Grant
BLENDED LEARNING

23. Blended Learning in a Liberal Arts Setting
• Bryn Mawr College, NGLC grant-funded program
• “Using Blended Learning in a Liberal Arts
Environment to Improve Developmental and
Gatekeeper STEM Course Completion, Persistence,
and College Completion”
• Computer-based, interactive tutorials and quizzes
that provide customized learning and instant
feedback, e.g., Open Learning Initiative modules
• http://nextgenlearning.blogs.brynmawr.edu/

24. Open
Learning
Initiative
Chemistry
Module

25. Outcomes
• Student preparation = better student-faculty
interaction
– Metacognition
• Assessment data for learning analytics
• Mastery vs. grades

26. Challenges
• Uneven availability of resources
– OLI did not cover well economics, biology, geology,
chemistry, developmental math
• Start-up costs: time to find, evaluate, apply &
integrate computer-based materials
• Doesn’t apply in every case, e.g., basic math
skills

27. Creating Resources
• Spohrer (Bryn Mawr) reports 50 hours
• Collaborative Projects from ACS
– Analyzing and Creating Maps
– Beyond the (Online) Handbook: Writing Resources
Designed for the Digital Environment

28. Open Textbooks
• Open SUNY Textbook • Anthropology
Program • Business
• SUNY-Geneseo, Cyril • Computer Sciences
Oberlander • Education
• 15 free online books • English
• Library as publisher • Math
• Music
• Sciences

29. More Reasons to Blend
• Free up more time for more meaningful
interactions
• Expand the classroom
• Bring more real world examples in the
classroom
• Multiple and global perspectives
• Navigate successfully in a digital world

30. High Impact Practices
LIBERAL ARTS PEDAGOGIES

31. Liberal Education:
Essential Learning Outcomes
• Intellectual and practical skills, like
– Inquiry and analysis
– Critical and creative thinking
– Written and oral communication
– Quantitative literacy
– Information literacy
– Teamwork and problem solving
• Knowledge of human cultures and the physical and
natural world;
• Personal and social responsibility, including civic
knowledge and engagement both locally and globally;
• Integrative and applied learning.

32. High Impact Practices (Kuh)
• First-Year Seminars and • Undergraduate
Experiences Research
• Common Intellectual • Diversity/Global
Experience Learning
• Learning Communities • Service Learning,
• Writing-Intensive Community-Based
Courses Learning
• Collaborative • Internships
Assignments and • Capstone Courses and
Projects Projects

33. Public Digital Scholarship

34. Digital Field Scholarship
• Davidson, Math Maps
• Lewis and Clark, Digital Field Scholarship Seminar
• Muhlenberg, Documentary Research Storymapping
• Reed College, Carbon Field Studies

35. Stories of the Susquehanna:
Digital Humanities, Spatial Thinking, and
Telling the historia of the Environment
Katherine Faull, Professor of German and the
Humanities
Alf Kentigern Siewers, Associate Professor of
English and Affiliated Faculty Member in
Environmental Studies
Bucknell University
NITLE Seminar, October 9, 2012
Slides courtesy of Katherine Faull & Alf Siewers & available online

36. The problem: How to • Civic engagement
engage students in local – Summer Writers Institute
geo-history (2009)
• Chesapeake Conservancy—
Students commonly write history
as:
John Smith Trail Connector
Trail (2009-12)
A linear temporal narrative
imposed on complex • Digital storytelling
signifying grids
– Stories from Marcellus Shale
They employ a univocal (2010)
narrative voice
• Mellon foundation grant
And thus provide a single (2012)
perspective
• Interdisciplinary course (IP)
– 2011, 2012
Slide courtesy of Katherine Faull & Alf Siewers

37. Smith’s 1612 map--detail
Question remains as to where these locations are today and whether
they can even be found as John Smith’s map is not isomorphic, that is is
not drawn to scale to represent landscape and location
Slide courtesy of Katherine Faull & Alf Siewers

38. Students georectified Smith’s
map according to different
scholarly interpretations
1. Clark and Eschleman place all
Smith’s sites south of Harrisburg:
Sasquesahanough at
Washington Boro,
Attaock around York,
Quadroque near Middletown,
Tesinigh around Lebanon,
Utchowig around Harrisburg,
Cepowig “at the head of
Willowby’s River” (Bush River) in
Maryland
[produces geographical error of
between 10-30 miles]
from: H. Frank Eshleman, Lancaster County
Indians: Annals of the Susquehannocks and Other
Indian Tribes of the Susquehanna Territory from
About the Year 1500 to 1763, the Date of their
Extinction (Lititz, Pa.: Express Printing Co., 1909),
12-13.
Slide courtesy of Katherine Faull & Alf Siewers

39. Teaching new courses: learning new skills
• Importance of a LONG TERM mentor/mentee
relationship—e.g. Presidential Fellow, Steffany
Meredyk
• Allows for collaborative learning of new skills
• Allows for complementary learning and
application of skills
• Student skills transferable between GIS,
History, Humanities, English, Environmental
Studies courses
Slide courtesy of Katherine Faull & Alf Siewers

40. CITIZENS FOR A GLOBALLY
NETWORKED WORLD

41. Globally Networked World
Global Network by Flickr User WebWizzard

42. Multimodality
• Linguistic (verbal)
• Visual
• Audio
• Gestural
• Tactile
• Spatial

43. Increased capacity
• Explosion of data
• Exponential advances in computation storage
and bandwidth
• Ubiquity of access, e.g., mobile devices

44. Participatory Culture
• Low barriers to artistic expression and civic
engagement
• Strong support for creating and sharing one’s
creations
• Informal mentorship by most experienced for
novices
• Members believe their contributions matter
• Some degree of social connection
Henry Jenkins, Confronting the Challenges of Participatory
Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century

45. Networks

46. The Long Tail
Mass
Mass Customization
Industrialization Amazon
Small Liberal Arts Colleges
Humanities Projects
Local

47. Pedagogical Experimentation
• Digital Humanities
Pedagogy: Practices,
Principles and Politics, ed.
Brett Hirsch, 2013
• Digital Pedagogy Reader and
Toolkit (in development)

48. Digital Pedagogy Reader and Toolkit
• Born digital
• Curation of Pedagogical artifacts
• Multi- & Cross-disciplinary
• Interactive living archive
• Networked
• Tagged
• Open

49. Keywords & Curators
Ability MOOC Remix
Collaboration Multimodal Rhetoric
Community Play Sexuality
Composition Praxis Storytelling
Failure Programming Text Analysis
GLAM Public Virtuality
Information Science Queer Work
Interface Race

50. http://lookingforwhitman.org
• Personal student blogs
• Aggregation via tags and news feeds

51. Looking for Whitman in . . .
• New York City College of Technology (CUNY)
• New York University
• University of Mary Washington in
Fredericksburg, VA
• Rutgers University-Camden
• University of Novi Sad (Serbia)
• Gold, Matthew. “Disrupting Institutional Barriers
Through Digital Humanities Pedagogy.” Diversity &
Democracy 15, no. 2 (2012).

52. Find out More
• http://bavatuesdays.com/looking-for-
whitman-a-grand-aggregated-experiment/
• http://mkgold.net/blog/tag/lookingforwhitma
n/
• Matt Gold. “Looking for Whitman: A Multi-
Campus Experiment in Digital
Pedagogy.”Digital Humanities Pedagogy, ed.
Brett D. Hirsch. Ann Arbor: University of
Michigan Press, 2013

53. Texas Language Consortium

54. Global Learning
• Re-envisioning Diasporas at Swarthmore
College and Asheshi University in Ghana

55. Global Course Connection Project
• Connecting with a companion course in
another nation
• Enrich each connected course with an
international perspective
• Direct exchange between students and faculty
members as they discuss shared readings and
assignments.

56. Intercampus Interaction or Collaboration
• Sunoikisis intercampus courses (ICCs) in
advanced Greek & Latin
• SUNY-COIL Globally Networked Learning
• FemTechNet: Distributed Online Collaborative
Course
• History Harvest
Fall 2006 Sunoikisis ICCs

57. NOW WHAT?

58. Collaborative Approaches
• Finding and Creating OLI modules and other
materials for blended learning
• Plugging into existing digital projects
• Creating networked collaborative courses
• Something completely new . . .

59. References
• I. Elaine Allen, and Jeff Seaman. Going the Distance: Online Education in the United States,
2011. The Sloan Consortium, November 2011.
http://sloanconsortium.org/publications/survey/going_distance_2011.
• Parker, Jo Ellen. “What’s So ‘Liberal’ About Higher Ed?” Academic Commons (June 10, 2006).
http://www.academiccommons.org/commons/essay/parker-whats-so-liberal-about-higher-
ed.